Rossi ends 49-race victory drought with Indy road course triumph

WASHINGTON: Alexander Rossi snapped his 49-race IndyCar victory drought on Sunday, capturing his first win since 2019 in the Gallagher Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

"It’s a relief, man," Rossi said, exhaling a big sigh after his first win since Road America in June 2019. "It’s been so many things for so long."

Rossi, who started on the outside of the front row on the starting grid, could afford to spare a thought for Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta, who started ninth but was leading comfortably when a mechanical issue struck on the 43rd lap.

"I do feel for Colton, I do," said Rossi, who won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 as an IndyCar rookie. "But I’m happy. Thankfully something came our way."

Danish rookie Christian Lundgaard finished second, 3.5441 seconds adrift, his first IndyCar podium coming a week after his 21st birthday.

"It sure feels like a birthday present," the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan driver said.

Australia’s Will Power finished third to take a nine-point lead in the series standings over Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson with four races remaining.

Power started fourth on the grid, but it was far from an uneventful one-rung move for him on the multi-turn course that incorporates part of the famed Indy Motor Speedway oval. "Definitely a rough start, got pushed around in turn one, but pushed into Pato (O’Ward) -- we spun him," said Power, who found himself running as low as 16th at one point.

"Then Helio (Castroneves) went for a big move and pushed me on the curb! You can never expect a normal day in IndyCar.

"Everyone’s very aggressive," added the Aussie, who offered angry assessments of his peers via his radio during the race but was chuckling about it afterwards.

"It’s amazing we could go all the way back there and recover," he said. Power’s Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin of New Zealand and Josef Newgarden -- who was racing after clearing concussion protocols after a crash last weekend -- rounded out the top five.